(Bionic) Eyes Open Relationship Management

When I was a little dude, two of my favorite TV shows were "The Six Million Dollar Man" and "The Bionic Woman." I developed an early fascination with cyborgs, robots, and all things digital after watching those shows. I even used to pretend I had bionic parts of my own.

One day, as my mom headed outside to gather eggs from the chicken coop (we lived on a farmette in rural Oklahoma), she asked me to keep an eye on my little sister, who was around three years old. I jumped at the opportunity because it meant I'd finally get to demonstrate the bionic powers I'd been boasting about for weeks.

I enthusiastically reassured my mom that I would watch over my sister and that all would be fine as I watched her walk out the back door. As she disappeared down the path, I touched the tip of my finger to my temple and switched on my "bionic eye" (yes, I made the famous "dit dit dit dit dit" sound that accompanied Steve Austin's use of his bionic enhancements). Then, assured in the knowledge my implant would keep me apprised of anything out of the ordinary, I skipped merrily across the house, up the stairs, and into my bedroom to play with my toys.

Imagine my surprise when around 30 minutes later, I was startled from my play by my mother's shrill screeching, demanding that I come marching down the stairs "right now!" The instant I turned the corner at the base of the staircase, I realized something had gone terribly wrong with my ocular implant. 

Standing in the middle of the living room was my giggly-faced little sister, hands clutching the handlebar of her toy shopping cart. Inside it were pots, overturned plants, crumpled up family photos, and, last but not least, the rabbit ear antennas she'd managed to break off our brand-new 19-inch Curtis Mathes color television.

"I asked you to watch your sister!" my mother shouted, red-faced and fire-eyed.

"But mom," I replied, "I was watching her... with my bionic eye!"

Lesson learned that day: truly keeping tabs on others means getting in front of them and interacting face-to-face.

Managing relationships with your teams, customers, and key vendors is difficult enough when you can easily meet with them in-person. Keeping tabs on these relationships — let alone improving them — is extremely difficult in odd times like these, when getting together in person is taboo, uncomfortable, or outright forbidden. But if you don't, you can bet your competition will.

That's why it's more important than ever to make time to "see" people — utilizing video for now and, as soon as possible, face-to-face, even if that means you're doing it from behind a portable plexiglass shield and a face mask. While safety and health should always come first, face time (or FaceTime) is invaluable in strengthening relationships.

As we wait for a time when in-person meetings will again be possible, the good news is that there are many ways to maintain relationships remotely. I know this because it's been a part of my job well before any of us had heard of "social distancing." Being based in Chicago, but working with a team set mostly in New York and Europe, I've had to learn several strategies to build camaraderie despite only occasionally meeting in person. Our clients are similarly scattered hither and yon. 

Here are a few easy-to-implement tips for keeping your bionic eye on your employees and your customers and strengthening relationships from a distance:

• Communicate proactively. Remember that physical separation leads to psychological separation. If you've gone some time without speaking to individual teammates or customers, you need to find a good excuse (or make up a random one) to get in front of them. Get them on the phone, even if it's only for 10 minutes to get their thoughts on something, or tell them what's going on with the company, other clients like them, etc. The point is to keep a dialog going. Find a way to stay top of mind. 
• Celebrate small wins. To the above point of finding excuses to get in front of your teammates and clients, celebrating small wins is a great way to keep everyone feeling upbeat while isolated. For example, did a particularly sticky support case get resolved? Great! Reach out and let your client know you're aware of the problem and solution, and tell them how happy you are that things are all better. Internally, personally thank the team members who made it happen and give them a shoutout on your next all-company virtual meeting or state of the union memo.
• Practice greater transparency. Shoot individual clients a note letting them know about new products or features on the horizon that you believe will be of interest to them. I'm not talking about a templated blast email here — personalization is key. If talking about products isn't your thing, ask them what is and isn't working for them in the new normal, and let them know what has been hard for you, too. Internally, keep your team abreast of how the company is doing — be as open as possible. You don't need to share every detail of your P&L, but big picture updates are helpful at a time when the general business landscape is so uncertain.
• Make time for water cooler chat. Sometimes the best way to maintain business relationships is to talk about anything but business. This happens naturally when people are together in offices or at events, but not as much when we're hopping on calls or video chats with specific agendas and timeframes. People appreciate the opportunity to talk about outside activities and interests, and connecting on a more personal level makes everyone feel less isolated. You also never know when friendly banter could uncover new business opportunities for you and your clients. 

These simple business practices are essential in "normal" operating scenarios; they are even more vital in times like these when many of us are unable to connect in-person. Utilizing them can help us get in front of our teams and our customers with a regular cadence and can also help us identify trouble spots. It’s unlikely that your teammates or customers are wreaking havoc on your business the way my little sister wrecked our living room, but they might be encountering difficulties - personal and professional - you won’t see unless you look.

We may not have bionic superpowers to help us every relationship in our businesses, but by keeping our real eyes open for opportunities to stay connected, our relationships can come out of this pandemic even stronger than before.

(If you're interested in a deeper dive into "virtual inclusion" with employees, I highly recommend reading this recent research from the London School of Economics, which highlights several new approaches to management being taken up as a result of the pandemic.)